First Palestinian embassy in W. Europe opens in Sweden

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (C, right) speaks next to Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom (C) during the inauguration of the Embassy of Palestine in central Stockholm February 10, 2015. (Reuters/Fredrik Sandberg) / Reuters

The first-ever Palestinian embassy in Western Europe has opened in Sweden on Tuesday evening, the Swedish prime minister’s press service said. President Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in Stockholm for the event.

The plan to recognize Palestine was criticized by Israeli Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who said that Prime Minister Lofven
“must understand that neither declaration nor move by an
external player will replace direct talks between the sides that
will be part of a comprehensive accord between Israel and the
entire Arab world."

Following the move, relations between Sweden and Israel soured,
and deteriorated even further early this year, when Foreign
Minister Margot Wallstrom called off a visit to Israel in
January.

At the time, Israeli media cited Lieberman as saying that he did
not want to meet Wallstrom, and that she wasn’t welcome on an
official visit to Tel Aviv.

Late last year, the European Parliament also voted to recognize a
Palestinian state in principle, with a total of 498 MEPs voting
in favor.

On December 30, an official bid for Palestinian statehood was
submitted to the UN Security Council. However, the UNSC failed to
adopt the Arab coalition’s bid for the creation of a Palestinian
state.

A total of 135 countries recognize Palestine – including several
Eastern European nations, which did so before joining the EU.

The Palestinian ambassador to Russia has praised Sweden for
taking a “huge step” towards Palestine’s broader
recognition in Europe.

“This is very important to us and we hope this trend to
recognize Palestine as a state continues in Europe and that other
countries within the EU will also recognize us. Sweden made a
huge step in that direction," Fayed Mustafa told Sputnik.